Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The EU helped find the crash site with its satellite data analysis support system. Responding to criticism, the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management said this was “an expression of the most basic humanity”.
After the helicopter carrying Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian crashed in mountainous terrain in foggy weather, the recovery operation became extremely difficult. The victims have now been rescued from the accident scene. “We are transferring the bodies of the martyrs to Tabriz (in northwestern Iran),” said the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kooliwand.
EU Commissioner Janez Lenarčič said on Platform X on Sunday evening that the EU had supported the search operation. “Following the Iranian request for support, we are activating the ‘Copernicus EMS Rapid Response Mapping Service’,” the politician explained. He added the hashtag ‘EU solidarity’ to the post.
Criticism of support: “Disgusting”
This approach is not met with goodwill by everyone: for the Dutch right-wing populist this is ‘EU solidarity with evil’, as he wrote on X. Critical voices also came from Germany. CDU foreign expert Roderich Kiesewetter explained: “Drone war against Ukraine and you talk about EU solidarity? Disgusting.” FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann was also stunned: “What a miserable hashtag, what a mockery of the brave fighters for human rights in Iran. I expect an explanation for this.”
EU Commissioner: “No act of political support”
Lenarčič cannot understand this rejection of EU aid. “Providing a Copernicus satellite map upon request to facilitate a search and rescue operation is not an act of political support for any regime or institution. It’s just an expression of the most basic humanity.”
EU Council President Charles Michel, who was nicknamed the ‘Butcher of Tehran’ for his brutal actions against opposition figures, offered his condolences. “He was rightly highly respected by his compatriots and enjoyed a great reputation abroad,” the Kremlin said. Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his “deep sadness over the death” in a message.
Condolences from Azerbaijan: Raisi was an “excellent statesman”
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who inaugurated a dam in the Iranian border area shortly before the Raisi accident, is appalled. “With President Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian people have lost an outstanding statesman who served his country with dedication and commitment all his life. His memory will always live on in our hearts,” said a condolence message to Iranian religious leader Khamenei.
Raisi was born in Mashhad in 1960 and worked in the judiciary for more than thirty years. In 2019 he was appointed head of Justice. In his previous role as public prosecutor, he was said to have been responsible for numerous arrests and executions of political dissidents in 1988.
Raisi under pressure due to prosecution of the headscarf requirement
Experts had also treated Raisi as a possible successor to Khamenei, who turned 85 in April. Although criticism from the younger generation is now increasingly directed against the entire system of the Islamic Republic, Raisi was mainly under pressure in his own country. Recently, the government implemented its controversial policy of forcing people to wear headscarves, further alienating parts of the population.
Source: Krone
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